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Desiree A. Díaz, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE, CHSE-A, ANEF, FSSH, FAAN

One of the world’s leading healthcare simulation education experts, Professor Desiree A. Díaz has spent more than a decade seeking to improve healthcare disparities through simulation education. She believes it is important not just to teach skills and responses, but also to explore the thoughts behind those actions. Her research focuses on combining cutting-edge simulation technology with the human emotion of empathy to foster more culturally competent providers and ultimately improve care for underserved patient populations, including the incarcerated, English language learners and the LGBTQ+ community. Currently, her research focuses on improving maternal and newborn care in ethnically diverse populations. Her research has been widely published and presented, and her creative and innovative simulations have helped establish best practices and revolutionized training, such as the creation of the world’s first correctional nursing simulation van to train prison nurses. Díaz is also committed to global health, and has helped lead several UCF interprofessional medical outreach trips to South America, Africa and the Caribbean.

Kimberly Navarro, PhD, RN, CNM, WHNP-BC

Kimberly Navarro is a Certified Nurse Midwife and Board Certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner who is passionate about providing high quality care, ameliorating maternal health racial inequities, combating maternal mortality and promoting the normalcy of pregnancy. She has over 15 years of experience in women’s health and has been involved in serving her community and providing education and healthcare services domestically and globally. Navarro’s commitment to underserved communities began as a student nurse partnering with nonprofits and churches to provide free health screenings and education. She has worked in federally funded health clinics in New Jersey and California and served as a frontline healthcare provider during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 she earned a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University, where she completed her dissertation on the experiences of Black mothers with high-quality maternal care with Black midwives.

Claudia C. Guillen, DNP, AGPCNP-BC

Claudia C. Guillen, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, and 2025 ACLM HEAL Initiative Scholar is a bilingual Nurse Practitioner and national leader in lifestyle and culinary medicine education. Practicing at MGH Chelsea Community Health Center, she brings extensive experience teaching plant-based nutrition and chronic disease prevention, in both English and Spanish, with a strong focus on empowering underserved Latino communities. Most recently, Claudia has been named the leader of ACLM Taskforce on Culturally Responsive Care, a group of lifestyle medicine clinicians who will provide guidance and oversight on the translation and cultural adaptation to ACLM’s Lifestyle Empowerment Approach for Diabetes Remission (LEADR) curriculum.

Karla Rodriguez, DNP, RN, CNE, DipACLM, NC-BC

Karla Rodriguez is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She has been a registered nurse since 1999, with a clinical background in adult and pediatric medical-surgical nursing. In addition to her academic role, she is a Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and a board-certified nurse coach.

Rodriguez networks with other healthcare professionals who are also interested in lifestyle medicine. She mentors students and colleagues in the nursing profession such as the ANA Career Mentoring Program, Sigma Theta Tau Mentoring Program, as well as the mentoring program with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses - New York Chapter. She served for NAHN-NY as the treasurer and she is currently serving for NAHN national as a member of the Nomination Committee. She is the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group (LMIG) faculty advisor for the student group, Plant-Based Lifestyle for Nurses. She also is serving her second term as secretary for the ACLM RN/APRN Member Interest Group.